World Walker

It has been many years since I met the world walker, Steve Newman and now I live across the road from his brother and his family. I was sent this and and thought I would share with my readers since I have been to China and seen the Great Wall myself.

Comrades,

The China trip thus far has been astounding, even overwhelming.

...I've been welcomed with royal pageantry into the ancient walled capitol of Xi'an ( only done for a dignitary once or twice a year--the last dignitary being Bill Clinton). Can't describe the feeling of standing at attention as anciently clad warriors and high priests and drums and trumpets flooded my senses and then the drawbridge was lowered. Xi'an is the start of the silk road, the home to the world famous terra cotta army excavations, and a favorite of Marco Polo.

The press and television coverage has been unbelievable. I had no idea how much the Chinese would make a fuss over the worldwalker.
Turns out they knew of me all along and many were excited when they learned I was finally coming to China. I wish it hadn't taken 30 years to find out that I have an army of fans here half way around the world.

Tomorrow I speak to China's Harvard, Peking University, and hold a whole new round of press conferences. Then it's off to the earthquake disaster in southwest China. There I'll be personally handing out some 1,000 hiking shoes to the volunteer relief workers and rescuers.
When I tweeted to my Chinese Weibo followers the news, tweets flooded my iPhone at the rate of 20 per second for hours.

Everything here happens at mind-boggling levels. Even an excursion into the heart of China's "Appalachia" was a circus of media and officialdom.

I'm going to be forwarding to you the email letters I've been sending to my wife almost daily. They'll give you a good sense of what I'm experiencing, and why this may well be the greatest period to date in my post-worldwalk career.

Please feel free to share the "Letters From China" with the college.
They provide a distinctly insider look at a China that is nothing like our father's China. And even with all those letters say, there's just as much they don't say, due to time constraints. I'm constantly on the go here, as we build to my first walk on the Great Wall. Rumors are that I will have a small army walking with me on those 210 miles."

I would like to see China again myself. I read recently the Chinese found undiscovered lengths of the wall.

Enjoy as we learn how the world has changed since 9-11 which will be remembered tomorrow.

Ed Winkle